Look back at the past: Friday!

Paul

Thank God It's Friday Image via Wikipedia

Looking back is always good to do!

Having had a really unusual past, I do sometimes wonder if you could look back at your past. What would you do differently or would you do anything differently?  We’ve all had our little problems in the past and not to mention having to deal with stress along the way.   Everything we do weather it be going to work to family problems can cause regrets and even me being a blogger get those questions that we can’t really answer.   Although answering the question isn’t really the point it is the part of the journey of discovery, as some would say.   We can always come up with excuses to why we do things we do but until we accept our past and say I forgive myself then we may never see the future or get the future that we may want or need.

I’m not saying that we should air our dirty laundry per say but to see it in a different light.   We can learn from our mistakes and make something good come from it.    Sometimes though people often don’t learn from their past mistakes but those are people who refuse to be truthful with themselves.   We really can’t help those who don’t want to help themselves, but we can help ourselves help others.   A few weeks ago I did a blog post, Pay it forward: Friday, and this time we are taking a time to look at our past and admit to ourselves that we may need a little more help then we really would like to admit.   I must admit this blog post was brought on by two different posts, one was Dolphin Tales and the other one was “Unchain the Name” blog post.   I want to discuss some of what I am feeling in this blog post.

Are you Second?

I’ve really been think about my priorities this month and why I haven’t been successful like I know God wants me to be.   I finally realized that I haven’t really put God first and I’ve decided in the coming months to work on making my blog more friendly to Christians.  I’m going to start calling myself a Christian Tech blogger, but I am not sure how you would classify it.   I’ve seen some people talking about that same topic but can we actually define it or do we need to come up with something really new.

Our Past defines us!

Now we all have some kind of past that really has impacted us somewhere or somehow.   It really has been something of a working struggle to define my past.   I’ve got so many things that I have yet to forgive myself over that I may not be a perfect christian but I do like to think of it as a continual journey.   I can’t really say where I’d end up but I do know that ever since I was a small boy, I have always like technology and I know in todays churches we are always going to see Ipads, Iphones, and other tablets that are used in looking up Bible  (Affiliate Link)passages and thus will always be in need of Christian Tech support.

Our Present is Upon us!

When I ask myself what I am expecting to do in the coming years, I always am looking at what I am doing now.   It doesn’t matter what I am doing but it is something that will affect me tomorrow and the next day.   I know I will never be perfect but I’m not going to create a post that no one will want to read but it will be a interesting journey to what I have learned over the years.   I also feel like I want to be a writer but am unsure of how to better accomplish this.   I guess God is calling me to do something but I have yet to figure out all the details but I do know this blog will be a big step in the right direction.

Our Future is yet determined!

I really don’t know what the future will hold but I am going to take it as it comes.   I can’t say anything else but that.   Do you know your future?  Are you ready for it? These are all questions that we are constantly asking.

Paul Sylvester

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Have you Unchain the Name?

Paul

The Cathedral – Unchain the Name from Creation Warehouse, Inc. on Vimeo.

Chains need to be broken!

Having been working with The Cathedral video ministry, I have been doing the videos for this church for some time and have been having a blast doing it.  Pastor Rick Vanhoose has decided to do a great video campaign on this great series that he feels he must preach about.   I usually don’t like to mix my personal stuff with my technology blog but I was so impressed with the videos and thought this would be something good to help promote this great series.

God VS Technology — is that possible?

I will not say that there is any similarities, I really don’t know what they could compete against each other.   I believe God has called everyone to do what we can every day of our lives.   Whether it be blogging about what we love or serving the community and doing it to the best of our ability.    I don’t know what others believe but I think God did want us to have technology to make our lives a little bit better.   When live is better, we don’t have to worry as much!

Any of this coming to a Podcast?

I have been talking to the Pastor for the past few months about creating a video podcast to broadcast around the world and also monetize the use of the video to help others and church grow bigger and better.  I’ve not had any luck but I will keep on trying because this would be a great podcast series for everyone to hear and watch.   I don’t expect every one of my readers to want to hear sermons or to be saved but I have a passion for what God may have for me and I also think this series is something that you should stop and ask yourself this very questionn.

Do you use the name to much?

We’ve all had those times when you are using the name of Jesus for some reason or other to either ask for grace and forgiveness but what else do we use the name for?  I won’t go into the possibilities but I thought this was something that should at least open some eyes and make people a little more open to what they may want to do.   If your wanting to hear the sermon or possibility have the video’s available on the web, then feel free to email the pastor and tell him. I’d probably be willing to produce the podcasts and make them available on their website if they were looking to pay someone to do it.

Paul Sylvester

 

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Do you have a Tax program for taxes yet?

Paul1 Reply

Tax Tax (Photo credit: 401K)

Tax season is upon us!

If your like me, You always dread doing taxes because you never really know what you will get back or if you will. I know I have to worry about everything from being audited to how my commissions did with my website and if that wil make a big difference or not. Nothing can be said for getting them done.  If your like me you some times get into a cold sweat worrying about all this stuff.   I know sometimes I even worry about my next paycheck, so I understand all to well of the problems in getting my taxes done.

Help is just a Click away!

I have in the past visited H&R block (Affiliate Link) offices but this year I will do it through their software [Download it NOW] (Affiliate Link).  I used to worry every year about my taxes but after I started going here and having them help with my taxes.   I don’t have to worry anymore with their  Worry-Free Audit support they provide for free with purchase of a Deluxe edition (Affiliate Link)of the software.  I simply have to buy their software and use it and I no longer have to worry because they will give me an adviser for free if their is in audit of my taxes.

Why I recommend them!

H&R block (Affiliate Link)has been their through the thick and thin of making of this website and others.   They even helped use with a tax audit where they paid for a mistake that I did in the past.   That was the something that I had it added on to it was worth the money because it only cost me 29$ if I remember correctly.   They always been professional to me and they even remember my name when I go into their office.    I don’t expect that now since I moved but I do know if I started going to the local offices where I moved they’d start to learn my name.   They’ve always been helpful and I know they would be again if I ever needed any help.

Don’t get caught with your pants down!

I tell you if you do your taxes then you are constantly having to worry about making mistakes and nothing can be any worse than that.   You need to have help when doing your taxes and that is why I recommend  using H&R Block (Affiliate Link) to help do your taxes, if you can’t afford the paid version, the least you can do is use the free version but that doesn’t pay for the state taxes, those you will have do worry about separately.  I will always use H&R block for all my tax needs whether it be at home or going to their office to do my taxes.

Paul Sylvester

 

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Being more Honest with my Affiliate Links!

Paul

Google Affiliate Network Summit 035 Google Affiliate Network Summit 035 (Photo credit: Affiliate

Testing the Waters!

A friend told me, a couple days ago that I should be telling my readers when I have affiliate links.  He said I would would get even more sales if I were to be a little more honest with which ones are actually the ones that I make money off of!   It would better help those decide if your going to be a a good blog or not.   I really didn’t have much to say on the matter because I didn’t know what to say. I am sure there will always be those who will not tell you.   I thought it was quite obvious when I didn’t tell you but then I forgot I was hiding my affiliate links, not to be dishonest but to prevent programs and virus from taking away from all the work I have done.   I know there will always be people who will got the site directly and not give the site the credit.  I understand that, and somewhat expect that.

Honesty is the best Policy!

That being said, if you ever come to one of my posts and you see the (Affiliate links) or (Affiliate link) then it will be linked to this post.   So you can read about my honesty and understand that I am working really hard at changing.   Here is how this will work:

  • Reviews — I promise to my readers that I believe in the review of the product and that it is a recommendation from me.

  • Reimbursement — Hosting isn’t cheap now a days, that is I put up my Affiliate links and also to try supplement my working income.

  • If Gifted to me — I will clearly state that in my post and my review will no be swayed by the free gift of the item.  If it sucks, you will know about it and if it is something useful then you will also know about it.  I may however have affiliate links for the item.

  • Nicer URLS — even though I have hidden the urls and you have to click the URL to go the affiliate site in question, it is because the URL aren’t really neat and tidy.   If you feel offended because you can’t see URL then please feel free not to click those links.  (I wouldn’t want to see http://www.amazon.com/blah/blah/blah/blah/etc, anyways and I bet you don’t either)

  • Gift Cards — If you are wanting me to review a certain item and it is on Amazon or some other place then I will gladly accept a gift card through email(First name @ this domain).  However if it is something else please don’t hesitate to email me.

  • Review UNITS — Same as Gifted cards, if your wanting me to review an item but don’t know where to send it.   Please email me and I’ll discuss with you where to send it.  (First Name @ this domain)  Please bear in mind that I may not give a nice review, so I make no PROMISES and there are no expectations.

Prove to me!

I’ve done the unthinkable and stopped hiding all my links on this site.   So if you want me to continue to do it this way,  I will need to see a positive out come.   I was making money hiding sites links and not telling people about them being affiliate links.   Now I don’t want to see a drop in sales and money by being honest.   Help support my love to blog and being able to read about the stuff that matters to you.   Just like Glasses USA (Affiliate link) matters to me because I have to wear glasses everyday and I can’t afford to go buy some really expensive pairs of glasses.   They have been the one source for me, when I need to buy new glasses.  If you find a post that you really think is good, then don’t be afraid to share it on Facebook or Twitter.   Those are one ways to show your support of my blog.

Nothing shows support like sharing a post!

Paul Sylvester

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How to recover you blog posts!

Paul2 Replies

Source: singingthroughtherain.com via Kathryn on Pinterest Source: singingthroughtherain.com via Kathryn on Pinterest

If I’d Only backed up!

That’s probably what you are thinking right now. Most hosting providers like Hostgator will allow you to backup your content for free but do we ever really do that every week. I’ve learned my lesson on this because of what happened last week. Let’s go back in time shall we!

The Back story.

After some really hard considerations with both my tech-linkblog site and this site, I recently decided I need to merge them into one BIG site because I felt that the ones who were coming to my old site were not really seeing the potential of my new site. So After searching bing on how to merge two domains, I found some articles that would help me do that!

I started off merging!

Yep you guessed it, I thought why would I need to worry about having backups when all I am going to do is merge two different databases into one. The Problem with that is that you never quite understand that doing that is a risky situation and thus you won’t know how to fix it until it is too late. That is where we come to this article for. I lost like 100 articles that were REALLY important I don’t say that lightly, people who have websites for SEO traffic know all to well the importance of some BIG articles. I’m no exception because it helps your ranking and Authority.  These articles actually are the ones that bring in some good links and even helps support my blog.  So you can imagine how I felt and my horror when I found out some of my blog entries were GONE and couldn’t get them back!!

How did I get my blog posts back?

You’re probably wondering how I got some of my really important blog posts back.   I know your really curious as to how I got them back without a backup.    In this article I will give you two or three sites that can help you get your blog posts back, but remember it is going to be a long process.   If you had a lot of blog posts then you may never get all the back but you can at lease get some of them back.     Before i begin though, I must tell you that if you are worried about your hard drive you should try Crashplan [Affiliate Link], they give a free trial and can run on Windows/Mac’s/and Linux. I don’t want anyone loosing their Photos, Videos, or Anything else that is important to you.

Google Cache

If you can grab the cache page before it gets erased then you can use that to replace the content that you’ve lost.  You’ll have to search for it then once you find it, just click the Cached link.   It however isn’t going to be a good solution if everything get’s removed.   Nothing in the article will prevent that unless you do a complete restore and thus you need to keep backups.

Now this is good to point, if you use the Internet Archive, but remember they will not index all your pages and if you only have excerpts on your home page then you really can’t use this service but it is something to consider if your do have one or two posts that might need to be replaced.

I however think if your are smart, to have your web hosting provider like Hostgator to keep backups.   That is why I like Hostgator when the next time I have a problem with my SQL database it will be backed up with Hostgator and all is good!

If you don’t have a backup, you should start backing up and if you have a back up then you need to come up with a good restoration plan for when you need it.   I’ve begun to do that with this site and I hope this helps others with the problem I have had!

Paul Sylvester

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